Media & Communications Corner: The $700 Billion Bailout and How Some Law Firms Missed an Opportunity
Editor's Note: I am pleased to announce that Nick Gaffney of Infinite Public Relations has joined our Board of Editors. We welcome Infinite PR as the regular authors of the Media & Communications Corner. The company provides strategic media relations and communication services for leading professional services firms. Infinite's extensive, award-winning experience counseling the legal and accounting industries on proactive strategic media relations campaigns and crisis communication matters makes them a positive addition to our newsletter.…
Law Firm Leadership: An Economic Stimulus Plan for Law Firms
Wall Street and Main Street are not the only places that need a paddle to the chest. While many firms look to cut costs to stop the bleeding, this alone is not a prescription for a return to health. Here's what to do.
Revisiting MLF 2008: What You Missed!
At the beginning of a new year, we always look back on the year that was. The Year in Review, beginning herein, will present a pared-down reprint of one article from each of the last 12 issues of MLF (six articles this month and six next month).
Features
The Disappearance of Qs: A Knockout Punch to Securitizations?
Proposed changes to accounting rules for securitization vehicles will further challenge this already fragile market, threatening its role as a significant source of liquidity.
Features
Decisions of Interest
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
Equitable Distribution of the Appreciation in Value of Separately Owned Residences
In last month's newsletter, the authors discussed recent case law concerning the equitable distribution of the increased value of separately owned primary and secondary homes. Not all of these cases are in line with one another, leading them to the question: "How are courts really deciding who will benefit from increases in value in separately owned homes?"
Features
Postnuptial Pact Challenge Goes Forward
In the first case to interpret the latest amendment to a perplexing New York matrimonial statute, a state judge has ruled that a Long Island woman may challenge the validity of her postnuptial agreement 12 years after it was signed, notwithstanding the three-year statute of limitations.
Features
Court of Appeals Update: 2008
As it does each year, New York's Court of Appeals issued some significant family-law related decisions in 2008. As the new year begins, it's a good time to look back on the important decisions of last year that every New York matrimonial law practitioner should be aware of.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The 'Sophisticated Insured' DefenseA majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.Read More ›
- The Brave New World of Cybersecurity Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions: Pitfalls and OpportunitiesLike poorly-behaved school children, new technologies and intellectual property (IP) are increasingly disrupting the M&A establishment. Cybersecurity has become the latest disruptive newcomer to the M&A party.Read More ›
- A Lawyer's System for Active ReadingActive reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.Read More ›
- Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric CodeIn an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.Read More ›
- The New York Uniform Commercial Code Comes of AgeParties in large non-consumer transactions with no connection whatsoever to New York often choose its law to govern their transactions, and New York statutes permit them to do so. What most people do not know is that the New York Uniform Commercial Code is outdated.Read More ›